As an inmate gets closer and closer to his death penalty sentence, Stabler struggles to find out whether that man was the perpetrator of a different crime with an unidentified murderer. Dr. Huang assists Stabler but the investigation goes haywire to mixed results.

Tom Shales

Mark Dawidziak

The cast is first rate, delivering sympathetic and believable performances. The writing is intelligent, providing intellectual grist to the grisly moments. And the direction is as crisp as it is clever. [20 Sept 1999, p.1E]

Caryn James

A crackling-sharp spinoff...The show swiftly finds its balance. Not every series lends itself to cloning, but the essential qualities of "Law and Order" seem made for it: headline-generated stories resolved in self-contained episodes; a no-nonsense tone; a cast large enough to vary the focus.

Terry Jackson

It's only measured against that formidable benchmark that the spinoff falls short of those expectations. It's a solid drama, but it's no Law & Order - yet...On its own, it's a good show. But it's got the genes to be great. [20 Sept 1999, p.1E]

Howard Rosenberg

Despite a bizarre courtroom sequence that strains credibility early in the episode, this is a very good start for Special Victims Unit, which promises to be a solid cop drama capable of occasionally stretching toward greatness.

Robert Bianco

Aaron Barnhart

Time will tell whether this spin-off of NBC's cops-to-courts standby can lure an audience to Mondays. There's plenty here to work with. The question is, in what direction will creator Dick Wolf move it all? [20 Sept 1999, p.E1]

Ed Bark

Victims Unit also imports Mr. Belzer's sardonic John Munch character from NBC's canceled Homicide: Life on the Street. His wise-guy asides are a little forced in this first hour, as are some of the recurring sexual references. But the featured case gets more compelling by the minute. [20 Sept 1999, p.1C]

Phil Rosenthal

Gail Pennington

The absence of the familiar law-order yin-yang gives the spin-off its own identity, but in the beginning it feels like a loss...What may turn out to sink this sharply written, well-acted show, however, is the premise itself. The prospect of tuning in every week to confront a creepy new sex crime, with most of the victims women and children, simply isn't very appealing. [20 Sept 1999, p.E6]

Phil Gallo

First episode lacks the energy and grit of the first season of "Law & Order," but Anthony Jannelli's camera work reveals the guilty, and director Jean De Segonzac and editor Doug Ibold keep the action taught even when it's apparent exactly where things are headed.

Michele Greppi

If the crimes that drive "Law & Order" have the cops who solve them and the lawyers who prosecute them shaking their heads, the sex crimes dealt with by Special Victims will have the cops - and viewers - holding onto their stomachs.

Robert P. Laurence

When the hour is over, one is left with the distinct impression that the story could have been told just as well, if not better, on the original "Law & Order." And one is reminded yet again that network TV seems to be recycling old ideas just when it desperately needs new ones. [20 Sept 1999, p.E1]

John Levesque

At times, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit flashes the same no-nonsense style of its sire: spare writing, quick pacing, ripped-from-the-headlines plot. But for much of the time, tonight's premiere is enervating, plodding and dull, which seems kind of odd when you're dealing with crimes of passion. [20 Sept 1999, p.E-3]

Mike Antonucci

There are lots of problems with the Special Victims premiere, chief among them being the focus on Olivia Benson, the female detective played by Mariska Hargitay. In a misguided rush to establish the character's background story and motivation as a cop, the episode's key moment is a revelation about an intimate detail of her life. It comes way before we have enough reason to care about her. [20 Sept 1999, p.7C]

Joel Brown

Meloni is smirky, Hargitay whiny, and transferred-from-"Homicide" detective John Munch (Richard Belzer) seems out of place. But Wolf has proved an expert at integrating cast changes on "L & O," and we have to believe he'll iron all this out. [20 Sept 1999, p.36]

Jonathan Storm

The most disappointing new show of the TV season...SVU helps you appreciate the "order" part of Law & Order. Though it will have the same crazy-quilt plot twists, this one's straight police work and seems a little drawn-out, not nearly as richly satisfying as a puzzler as its progenitor.

Matthew Gilbert

It's subject matter that speaks to the train-wreck spectator in all of us, and designing a weekly show around it is a little uneasy-making. It's dangerously close to "reality" programming. That said, Special Victims Unit is an uneven hour that could improve with some aggressive fine tuning.

David Zurawik

Neither Meloni nor Hargitay is a great actor, and both are guilty of overacting here...The limited range of each is suggested by their over-reliance on one or two basics moves. Meloni purses his lips and bugs his eyes out to tell us he's intense and/or getting mad. Hargitay runs her hand through her hair to tell us she's stressed. She does the hair thing so many times tonight you fear she'll have pulled all her hair out by midseason. [20 Sept 1999, p.1E]